Ammunition box



Jar 1.25, 1949.

J. F. HABERLIN AMMUNITION BOX Filed Dec. 4, 1944' 2 Sheets-Sheet l w n N Q m NA 4 H .y t S 000000000000 7 00000000000 000000000000 B. 00000000000 0 000000000000 00000000000 000000000000 00000000000 000000000000- 00000000000 000000000000 0000 0000000 0 0000000 0000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A x 0 0000000000 A I. Vail L mmmm 3 Jan. 25, 1949. J. HABERLIN AMMUNITION BOX Filed De. -4, 1944 2 Shets-Sheet 2 mR mm NA 1H :1 M J FIG. 4

ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 25, 1949 AMMUNITI BOX John F. Haberlin Seattle, Wash, assignor to Boeing Airplane Company, a corporation of Delaware Application December 4.19%, Serial No. 566,570

1. v C ms- Reliably. supplying ammunition to, a machine gunv mounted in a wing of a fighter orattack air! plane presents a problem. The space in which the ammunition may be. stored is limited, and o h: sun an h am1 17 11 v oxes. ar accessible to the crew. during flight, of the, air-. plane. Nevertheless for a fighting airplane. to be eiiective, ositivefeed; of the ammunition to such a wing machine gun. must be assured; At. the same time an adequate supply of ammunition must be. available for each. gun.

l-leretofore booster mechanism driven by an electric motor independently of the gun has been used to drag a long cartridge belt to a point adjacent to the gun, thus relieving the gun mechanism itself from the major portion of the ammunition belt drag. This expedient has made the use oi larger ammunition boxes feasible. Nevertheless the practical size of such ammunition boxes is limited. The depth of such boxes is usually restricted by; the thickness of the wing, which often is quite thin in airplanes of such type.

If the wing thickness is not a controlling factor, the height through which the booster must lift the ammunition belt must be taken into consid: eration in establishing the maximum depth of the storage box. Only one tier of ammunition is permissible ordinarily because the stored ammunition must usually'be aligned with the breech of the machine gun. The only other dimension of the ammunition box which can be varied is its length. If this dimension is toov great the am-. munition will notbe. fed evenly, because the. strain on the booster varies greatly as the, belt is fed first from one end of the. boxand. then from the other.

Moreover, when approximately half of the am-. munition or more has been removed from a long box the rest of the. ammunition may be thrown about in it as the airplane executes various ma. neuvers, which may place a sufiicient, load on the electric booster drive, and the machine gun mechanism to. prevent the, ammunition being fed to. the gun at a critical time. Bartitions have b e ol -c dr ns e v o suc a ox t d -isle it into. small compartments, but when that near-. est the u a be emr i d a on. o t belt from the next compartment frequently cascades into. the former compartment, as the airplane ex-. ecutes a quick maneuver, thus burying a portion of the belt nearer the gun. The overrun belt portion thus places such a heavy load on the portion of the belt under it that the booster cannot withdraw such portion of the belt from beneath the pile and feed it to the gun, causing the gun to complishing the: purposes mentioned above.

I have devised an ammunition box which over-' comes the disadvantages of previous installations, a d. v uch. bQ ay e of a ap i y reatly exceeding that or: the largest box which has been practical" heretofore.

It is a principal object of my invention to provide a composite ammunition box of large capacity which is, not, any deeper than conventional boxes, the increase-in capacity being obtained by, extending the length of the. box. Despite the larger capacity of such a box, it is object to removeammunition from its farther end without increasing the load on. the booster drive appreciably, yet no additional auxiliary drive.- mechanism is required.

A f r h r nse i t ont ol: t e ammunition Such. a large. a tit oned ammwlition box i 3' manner Q- nre n 2. 1 m ne r 0f the a rp ane thr w n th mmu t o about in the box excessively but such control will not interfere with the ammunition being fed reliably and continuously to: the gun as. it is, required. Despite the provision of partitions an appreciably greater load: is not imposed upon the booster drive mechanism at any onetime than at any other. In fact the load on the booster drive mechanism is 3 very little. greater when the. ammunition box has been nearly emptied than when it is almost full.

A further advantage. or my mechanism is the simplicity of its construction and the eiiectiveness with which it operates automatically in ac- It is also an object to, enable such mechanism to be adjusted readily: torapplic'ation to ammunitionboxes designed to. store ammunition of difierent calibre.

For the purpose of describing my invention, I have illustrated in the drawings an ammunition container having three sections, but it will be appreciated thatthe same principles may be incorporated in a box having a greater number of sections.

Figure 1 is longitudinal sectional view through an ammunition box incorporating my invention.

Figure. 2 is a fragmentary section through a portion of the. ammunition box shown in Figure 1 taken on line 2-2 of that figure. Figure 3 is a crossesectional.viewsimilar to Figure 2, but showing part of the mechanism altered to accommodate ammunition of larger calibre.

Figure 4. is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional View taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2. Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the ammunition box comparable to that of Figure 4, but taken through the central portion of Figure 1.

In the description of my invention I have used the term ammunition box or ammunition container to designate the composite structure shown in Figurel, which includes several compartments I, I0 and I I. These compartments may be formed merely by providing partitions within a unitary long casing. In order to enable the. capacity of an installation to be varied or selected readily, however, I prefer that these compartments be separate units, as illustrated in the drawings.

However many compartment units are employed, the ammunition belt will be fed from the compartment I nearest to the gun by a booster drive sprocket E2 of customary type, rotated by an electric motor. It is not necessary that such a booster drive be provided in order to utilize my invention, but in most instances such a drive is desirable. The compartment unit H at the end of the ammunition box remote from compartment I may be of convenient construction and will not incorporate features of my invention described below which are included in the other compartment units. a

The intermediate unit I0 includes special features of my invention, but does not have a booster drive such as provided in compartment I. The number of intermediate units I0 inserted between the two end compartments I and I I may be varied at will. Some installations may not include any of these intermediate units, and others may incorporate several, depending upon the total capacity of the container required.

The ammunition belt formed of shells S and conventional links L are laid back and forth in a continuous chain until the container has been filled completely. If the container is divided the most remote compartment II is filled in this manner first, and then the belt passes to the bottom of compartment III in which an additional section of the belt is laid back and forth until this compartment has been filled. From compartment III the belt passes to the bottom of compartment I which holds the final section in the same way. r

. To feed the ammunition belt from such a con tainer to the machine gun, the boostersprocket first withdraws the section of the cartridge belt from compartment I, next that from compartment III, or from several such compartments in succession, and finally from compartment II. This is clearly illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing where the section has been completely removed from compartment I, almost entirely removed from compartment I8, and none of the belt section in compartment II has been removed.

If an ammunition box is merely divided into compartments, or if several individual compartment units are arranged in the manner shown in Figure 1, without the provision of any special control mechanism like that to be described hereafter, the ammunition belt will droop into each empty compartment in the manner illustrated in compartment II] of Figure 1. As the booster drive pulls the ammunition belt, therefore, it will surge, some or all of the drooping portions being drawn upward to a critical point, and then the tension thus created in the belt suddenly withdraws a considerable length from a compartment at the right, again increasing the amount of droop in each compartment to the left and decreasing the tension.

During normal operation such an arrangement is undesirable because of the fluctuating load placed upon the booster drive mechanism. The principal disadvantage of such mechanism, however, is that various maneuvers of the airplane, coinciding'with a period of increased tension in the ammunition belt, occasionally cause a portion of the belt from a compartment farther from the gun to overrun the drooping portion of the belt in the adjacent compartment nearer the gun and pile on top of it. Such excess belt creates such a load on the underneath belt portion that it cannot be withdrawn from beneath the pile. by the booster, and consequently the machine gun is put out of commission.

In order to secure the advantages of a compartment type of ammunition box without its disadvantages, I have provided a bridge 2 in each compartment which will remain in the pendent position shown in Figure 5 and in compartment II of Figure 1 as long as there is a section of ammunition belt of any appreciable length in such'compartment. When a belt portion begins to be drawn from a compartment at the right to the adjacent compartment on the left, however, the bridge 2 of the latter compartment will be swung upward automatically into the horizontal position shown in compartment I of Figure 1, and in Figure 4. In that position the bridge will effectively close its compartment to the ammunition belt and serve as a support and guide for the portions of the belt drawn from compartments at the right, thus preventing the ammunition belt drooping down into a compartment which has been emptied.

An important feature of my invention is the mechanism which I have devised for swinging the bridge 2 in each compartment upward automatically when such compartment has been substantially emptied of ammunition. Such mechanism is shown most clearly in Figures 4 and 5. The bridge 2 is pivoted upon a shaft 20, which may be supported by a channel-shaped bracket 2I secured to the wall of the compartment having the opening I3 into which the cartridge belt may be fed from a compartment at the right.

As long as a given compartment contains a sufiicient length of ammunition belt so that no appreciable tension is exerted on the belt portion passing from the next compartment through the feed aperture I3, the bridge 2 will remain in the pendent position shown in Figure 5, suspended by shaft 20. The ammunition belt section extending through feed aperture I3 passes over a sprocket 22 secured to shaft 20, to which is also secured a spur gear 23. When the bridge 2 is in operative position, shown in Figure 5, this spur gear will be in mesh with an arcuate rack 24 formed on the end of an arm 25.

The last portion of the section of ammunition belt being withdrawn from a compartment forms a catenary curve, as appears in compartment ID of Figure 1, and the weight of such curved portion will exert a tension upon the portion of the ammunition belt passing through feed aperture I3. This force will draw ammunition through the feed aperture from a compartment at the right. The portion of the ammunition belt thus moved is engaged with sprocket 22, and consequently will rotate it in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 5. Gear 23, being rotated counterclockwise correspondingly, will turn the arcuate rack 24 tates.

in a clockwise direction, so that arm 25 will progress bodily clockwise around shaft 22 to swing bridge 2 upward aboutsuch shaft into the horizontal position shown in'Figure 4.

As the swinging end of bridge 2 approaches its upper position, it will engage a spring latch i5 secured on the wall of the compartment in which the discharge opening- M is formed. The swinging end of bridge 2 presses this latch outward until it passes above the latch tip.

Simultaneously with the raising of bridge 2 into the horizontal position of Figure 4, pin- 26, movable lengthwise of a slot in the under side of bridge 2, will be shifted somewhat to the right relative to the bridge, since such pinis carried by arm 25- which, during raising of the bridge, cannot move lengthwise but merely ro This arm has in it a keyhole slot 21 adjacent to rack 24, through which'extends a flat bar 28 carried by bracket 2'? and secured a ainst rotation relative to it. Lateral movement of arm 25 along bar 28 is prevented by spacer tubes 28' encircling such bar and interposed between the opposite sides of bracket. 2 iand arm 25.

The width of bar 28 extends horizontally and its thickness is vertical. The circular portion of keyhole slot 21 is of a diametersubstantially equal to the width of the bar, so that when the bar is engaged in this portion of the slot arm 25 may swing about such bar but cannot move lengthwise. Whenthe bridge has been raised into horizontal position so that its free end clears latch iii, the parallel-sided portion of slot 2?. has been brought into a position adjacent to the edge of the. bar. Thewidth of this slot portion is suniciently great to receive the thickness of the bar, but in any other position the bar cannot enter this portion of the slot. When the bridge 2- reaches horizontal position, therefore, a spring 29, having its ends fixed to arm 25 and encircling a spacer tube 28, draws arm 25 to the right so that the narrow portion of the keyhole slot 2? fits over the bar.

Such lengthwise movement of arm 25 will completely disengage arcuate rack 24 from spur gear so that such gear may turn freely with sprocket, 22 as the ammunition is drawn across the bridge, without operating the bridge-raising mechanism. Moreover when its slot isv thus engaged with the bar, arm 25 is held against rotation and forms. a brace tending to hold up the swinging end of the bridge at. the left of Figure 4. The slot 2? and bar 28 should, however, be proportioned sothat such bridge end will also rest on the spring latch ii.

In order to. reset the bridge to the pendent position of Figure 5 when his desired to fill the ammunition box again, latch l5 may be drawn outward and arm 25 shifted to the left, by reaching behind gear 23, to release the narrow portion of slot 2'! from bar 28. As the bridge is lowered, rack 2 3 will mesh with gear 23 again so that the parts will assume the positions shown in Figure 5, ready for a, further automatic bridgeraising movement.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3 the bridge 2 need not extend across the full width of the container as long as it supports an appreciable zone at the center of the ammunition belt. The two wheels of sprocket 22 are received in slots in the right end of bridgez when they are arranged as shown in Figure 2. If an ammunition belt incorporating ammunition of a larger calibre isto be handled, sprocket wheels having larger notches and arranged with their hubs in' reversed position in the manner shown in Figure 3 may be substitutedfor those of Figure 2. While their hubs are secured on the sameportions of shaft 213, the disk portions are spaced apart a considerably greater distance. The arrangement of the sprocket parts shown in Figure 2 could be employed, for example, for a .50 calibremachine gunbelt, whereas the arrangement of Figure 3 might be utilized with ammunition for a 20- mm. un.

Whatever the size of ammunition being fed it will be evident that the same general type of construction may be employed inthe ammuniti-on box. The bridges of the various compartments will be raised successively in the manner described to form a straight path along which the ammunition is guided from the compartment from which it is removed to the booster drive. No appreciable stress is placed upon the booster drive by ammunition moving across such bridges, but almost the entire load is created by lifting the ammunition from the compartment from which it is being removed. Itwill be evident that the number of intermediate compartments ill between thebooster compartment 5 and the end compartment H at the right of Figure 1 may be increased or decreased within wide limits according to the amount of ammunition desired for a particualr installation.

Although it is preferred that the ammunition box be divided into compartments, either by use of partitionsv or by assembling a, plurality of box units, my bridging mechanism would be useful in a long ammunition box which had no partitions in that the bridges themselves, in pendent position, would constitute partitions betwen ad- J'accnt piles of ammunition belt. The belt. would pass from the top. of a pile at. the right to the bottom of the adjacent. pile at the left over a sprocket 22 as previously described. As ammuni tion from each pile. begins to be fed toward the gun the bridge at the left of such pile; would be raised automatically. Such arrangement, While possible, is not as: desirable as a construction in which each pile is confined on all sides by a wall,

becausew-hen a bridge is raised there is a possibilityof a section of ammunition belt being flung from a partally depletedv pile into the space beneath such raised bridge.

I claim as my invention:

1. An ammunition box comprising; a container adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a pile, said containor having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced suficiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufficientlyabove the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, supporting means operable to support above the bottom of said container a section of ammunition belt extending between such inlet opening and such outlet opening, means driven by movement of a portion of the ammunition beltwhen the major portion of such ammunition belt pile has been discharged through such outlet opening, and means operativelyconnecting said driven means and said supporting means and operable to effect positive movement of said supporting means by said driven means upon ammunition belt effected movement thereof, to position said supporting means between such outlet and inlet openings.

2. An ammunitionbox comprising a container adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a pile, said container having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced sufiiciently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufficiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, supporting means operable to support above the bottom of said container a sectionof ammunition belt in a position extending substantially lineally between such inlet opening and such outlet opening, and to guide such belt for direct movement between such openings, means driven by movement of a portion of the ammunition belt when the major portion of such ammunition belt pile has been discharged through such outlet opening, and means operatively connecting said driven means and said supporting means and operable to effect positive movement of said supporting means by said driven means upon ammunition belt effected movement thereof, to position said supporting means between such outlet and inlet openings.

3. An ammunition box comprising a container adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a pile, said container having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced sufliciently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufficiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, bridging means movable from an inoperative position into an operative position between such outletand inlet openings for supporting a section of ammunition belt extending between such inlet opening and such outlet opening, means driven by ammunition belt moving into said container through such inlet opening when the major portion of such ammunition belt pile has been discharged through such outlet opening, and means operatively connecting said driven means and said supporting means and operable to effect positive movement of said supporting means by said driven means upon ammunition belt eifected movement thereof, to move said bridging means from its inoperative position into its operative position.

4. An ammunition box comprising a container adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a pile, said container having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced suificiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufficiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, a bridge member, means normally suspending said bridge member in pendent attitude adjacent to such inlet opening, and means engageable with a section of ammunition belt extending'through such inlet opening, operatively connected to said bridge, and operable by movement of such ammunition belt to swing said bridge upward into a position span- "i g the space between such inlet and outlet openings for supporting and guiding a section of ammunition belt extending between such openings.

5. An ammunition box comprising a container adapted to receive a sectionof ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a pile, said container having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced sufiiciently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufliciently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pilebelow it, a bridge member, pivot means normally suspending said bridge member in pendent attitude adjacent to such inlet opening, a sprocket adjacent to such inlet opening and engageable by a section of ammunition belt extending therethrough, and means interposed between said sprocket and said bridge member, operable by rotation of said sprocket effected by movement of the ammunition beltengaged therewithto swing said bridge member into operative position spanning the space between said inlet and outlet openings.

6. The ammunition box defined in claim 5, and latch means engageable by the swinging end of the bridge member in operative position to support such end of the bridge member.

7. An ammunition box comprising a container adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt fol ed back and forth to form a pile, said container having outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced sufiiciently above the oontainers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufliciently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, a bridge member, pivot means normally suspending said bridge member in pendent attitude adjacent to such inlet opening, a sprocket adjacent to such inlet opening engageable by a section of ammunition belt extending therethrough, drive means interposed between said sprocket and said bridge member, operable by rotation of said sprocket effected by movement of the ammunition belt engaged therewith to swing said bridge member into position spanning the space between said inlet and outlet openings, and means operable to render said drive means inoperative when the bridge member has been raised into operative position.

8. An ammunition box comprising a container adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a pile, said container having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced sufiiciently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufficiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, a bridge member, pivot means normally suspending said bridge member in pendent attitude adjacent to such inlet opening, an arm beneath said bridge member, a pivot disposed generally below said pivot means and supporting said arm, means slidably interconnecting the swinging end of said arm with the swinging end of said bridge member, a sprocket adjacent to such inlet opening and engageable by a section of ammunition belt extending therethrough, and gear means interposed between said sprocket and the pivoted end of said arm, operable by rotation of said sprocket effected by movement of the ammunition belt engaged therewith to swing said arm upward, thus to move said bridge member into operative position spanning the space between said inlet and outlet openings.

9. The ammunition box defined in claim 8, and means operable to shift the arm lengthwise when the bridge member has been raised into operative position for disengaging the gear means to interrupt the drive between the sprocket and the arm.

10. An ammunition box comprising a container adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a pile, said container having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced sufiiciently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and havin an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the pposite side thereof also spaced sufficiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, a bridge member, pivot means normally suspending said bridge member in pendent attitude adjacent to such inlet opening, a fiat bar disposed generally below said pivot means and extending transversely of said bridge member, an arm beneath said bridge member having a keyhole slot in one end thereof through which said bar extends, such slot having a circular portion of a diameter substantially equal to the larger dimension of said bar, and a parallel sided portion of a width substantially equal to the thickness of said bar, means slidably interconnecting the swinging end of said arm with the swinging end of said bridge member, a sprocket adjacent to such inlet opening engageable by a section of ammunition belt extending therethrough, gear means interposed between said sprocket and the pivoted end of said arm operable by rotation of said sprocket efiected by movement of the ammunition belt engaged therewith to swing said arm upward, thus to move said bridge member into position spanning the space between said inlet and outlet openings, and means operable to shift said arm lengthwise when the bridge member has been raised into operative position, for disengaging said gear means to interrupt the drive between said sprocket and said arm and for engaging the parallel sided portion of the slot in said arm with said bar, to hold said arm against swinging movement, bracing said bridge member thereby.

11. An ammunition box comprising a containe adapted to receive a section of ammunition belt folded back and forth to form a. pile, said container having an outlet opening for ammunition belt in one side thereof spaced sufficiently above the containers bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, and having an inlet opening for ammunition belt in the opposite side thereof also spaced sufficiently above the containcrs bottom for accommodation of such ammunition belt pile below it, a bridge member, means normally suspending said bridge member in pendent attitude adjacent to one of such openings, and means operable to swing said bridge upward into a position spanning the space between such inlet and outlet openings for supporting and guiding a section of ammunition belt extending between such openings.

JOHN F. HABERLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,354,432 De Felice Sept. 28, 1920 2,358,319 Dupee Sept. 19, 1944 2,398,263 Trimbach Apr. 9, 1946 

